As soon as the Bid is won, house prices skyrocket,
and in a short time taxes rise. It doesn't take long for everyone to start
protesting everything after dirty, noisy, and inconvenient construction
begins. Like clockwork, overrun costs are announced and the entire region
flips upside down with road detours, new business regulations, out-of-control
rents and big brother security.

The 2010 Games are coming, and it's going
to be an
incredible ride replete with opportunity and mishap.

The burning, billion-dollar question is;

If I have to pay for it, shouldn't I benefit too?
________________________________

Citizen News and the Olympics

It is much harder than most people think to live in and do business in
an Olympic region. Some people mistakenly believe that they will automatically
benefit from the opportunity by simply waiting for the crowds to show
up, or they think Olympic organizations like VANOC will shower them with
great wealth; while others feel they have nothing to offer, so they give
up before they even start. All of these assumptions are incorrect, but
that doesn't mean there still isn't great opportunity. You just have to
know where, and how, to look.

This book is written for business owners and entrepreneurs; Olympic volunteers
and paid workers; sports fans and spectators; and everyone in between.

Leverage Olympic Momentum is three books rolled into one.

First, it is about the Olympics, primarily the Vancouver Olympics,
and how 2010 ranks on the world stage. It compares our local experience
to global reports, and explores how cities like Sydney, Salt Lake City,
Athens and Turin were affected, and how they managed their communities
respective of their Olympic Games.

Second, Leverage Olympic Momentum is a handbook for business owners
who want to leverage Olympic momentum, but have nothing to sell directly
to Olympic organizations. Or maybe they do have something to market
to VANOC, but they don't know how to approach or negotiate with aggressive
and intimidating Olympic organizations and their official corporate sponsors.
It is also for companies who have been awarded contracts, but are now
finding it difficult to manage the relationship in a profitable and efficient
manner.

If you don't appreciate what an oligopoly is, and why it
is so dangerous to our community, you will by the time you finish my book.

Third, and as importantly, my book is about citizen journalism,
and why you should leverage this new and rapidly growing phenomenon. When
implemented properly, it has the potential to turn the traditional Olympic
business model into an experience that benefits everyone in our community,
including small business owners, taxpayers, Olympic volunteers and paid
workers. It is now possible to promote and market your products and services
to millions of people around the world who are spiraling like moths around
the glow of the 2010 Olympic torch that is already illuminating the Vancouver
/ Whistler region and Canada.

If you have to pay for it,
you should benefit too!

Citizen journalism is spreading around the world like a silicon wildfire.
Everyone is learning to leverage it, from public school children, to powerful
and influential CEOs and politicians. It connects people in a way that
the telephone or email did, except it is happening much quicker and it
is considerably more pervasive.

Many people in the developed world own a cell phone, digital camera and
a computer. And many already use these tools to create citizen news networks
that connect average people instantaneously to information that impacts
them locally and globally. So far though it hasn't been fully leveraged
in a politically-charged Olympics environment, and that is why this new communication tool
is so exciting. It shifts the balance of power to the consumer, and for
the first time gives the average person in an Olympic host community a
voice.

No one can hide anymore. You can't even run, because a kid with a cell
phone camera is there to catch you stumbling out of the gate, and a second
later a second person will watch you sprint by her, and in ten seconds
ten people are standing by waiting for you to run by them because they
saw and heard in "real time" that you were making news. Citizen
news is "AMBER ALERT" on steroids. In twenty seconds a thousand
people will know what you did, good, bad or indifferent, and so on and
so on.

The great news is that you can leverage citizen journalism to promote
community-based business information. When managed properly it is a very
effective business communication tool.

Leverage Olympic Momentum empowers people to become Citizen Newscasters,
and my book explains why you should do it, and how easy
it is. The, who, what, where, and when part is up to you, and that
is also what makes it so incredible. You have more control over news and
business information that affects you.

Leverage Olympic Momentum will change how you think about events like
the Olympics, or the Stanley Cup, or how you regard political leaders.
My book will help you easily understand that the story of news, and
especially events that affect our community like the Olympics, is
everyone's story to tell.

It's like a "2010 for dummies" with a hi-tech news media twist.

I started to research and write Leverage Olympic Momentum in 2003
when citizen journalism was just starting to come into its own on the
national political stage. U.S. presidential candidates, like Al Gore and
George W. Bush, used the powerful citizen news tool and changed North
America's election process. Today, in 2007, it is a firmly entrenched
political communication strategy.

I developed my own citizen journalism process in the late 90's, and used
it to change how music was sold and traded. In 1996, when I saw that MP3
technology shifted power away from major record labels and transferred
it to music listeners, I began to develop experimental websites that connected
artists directly with fans. We bypassed the middleman and gave listeners
control of the music they wanted to hear and at the price they wanted
to pay. Record labels were helpless, and still are a decade later. We
changed the music industry business model by empowering consumers. The
window for opportunity was very narrow, but early adopters who quickly
leveraged the phenomenon did exceedingly well. Being the first out of
the gate has proven to be the secret for many companies.

Research indicates that Olympic organizations unduly influence Olympic
Host communities in a way similar to how major label recording company
executives manipulated the emotions and buying habits of music fans. When
I recognized this pattern (after two years of independent research and
a six-figure investment), I adapted the strategy that we developed for
the music industry, and redesigned it for average people and business
owners in Olympic regions. Olympic host communities no longer have to
be served up like sacrificial virgins on the altar of Mount Olympus. Through
the ubiquitous digital camera and internet, citizens now have a choice
and the tools to easily communicate with each other, locally, or around
the world. Beijing 2008 is a perfect example of what happens when you think local and act global.

Citizens no longer have to sit helplessly and watch their communities
crumble under the oppressive combined political weight of Olympic organizations,
governments, and often violent anti-Olympic protesters.

I really enjoy the sporting aspect of the Games, and don't think
anyone should be forced to choose between being "for" or "against"
the Olympics. Consequently, I developed a strategy that allows
anyone to sit comfortably in the middle and make it work for them too.
I am Pro-Olympics - with a twist. Average citizens and business owners can easily promote and protect their
communities and companies, and leverage Olympic momentum without resorting
to extremes.

The biggest challenge that almost everyone in an Olympic region faces
is that they mistakenly believe they should go either hard-line pro-Olympics,
or swing to the other side and take an anti-Olympics position. Our research,
and experience tells us that choosing either extreme will often place
you in a no-win situation.

If you want to survive the Games, and actually profit in a way proportionate
to the big 2010 players and sponsors, your best offensive strategy is
to remain Olympics-neutral. Don't mistakenly assume that
a small player can simply adopt traditional Olympic strategy and come
out ahead. Olympic organizations make and play by rules that a smaller
player cannot easily manage profitably, if at all. If your only goal is
to become a volunteer, and give your time, services and products away,
then by all means, blindly follow their directions, but it you expect
to share in the wealth you have to think differently.

For most companies, their best option is to remain Olympics-neutral
whether they win Olympic contracts, or if they operate independently.
Position yourself so you are able to share information regarding your
experience with as many people as possible, and avoid being limited by
suffocating contracts. If you sign your freedom away and receive nothing
tangible in return your contribution will be substantial, but your return
negligible. Don't get stuck in this very common trap.

Knowledge will set you free, but only if you share it.
Citizens can now see it, record it, and then YouTube It!

Today, you don't even have to be a strong typist. Citizen journalism works
equally well for young and more experienced people. You can create a message,
and receive a message exclusively using online video. It's a couch-potato
easy method of community journalism and business communication.

Leverage Olympic Momentum is chockfull of hard to find information
that can help anyone become an Olympic Citizen Journalist.
Once you know the rules you can position yourself or your company in your
community in a manner that reflects your perspective and needs. In one
smooth sequence it is possible to maintain more control within your community,
promote your business, generate a profit, and support amateur Olympic
athletes. But first you have to know exactly how the Games work, and especially
the unwritten Olympic organization rules - rules that change constantly
to suite current Olympic organization agenda.

It never pays to fight Olympic momentum, so don't waste your precious
time, money, and effort doing something that everyone always fails at.
Instead, get onboard, remain neutral, and make it work for you too.

You won't learn the technical skills in this book (you can pick
that info up on my blog or a thousand other places online), but you will
learn why you now have an opportunity never afforded anyone else in history.
Recognizing change is a big hurdle. Sometimes, you just have to see
where others came from, and where they are going, and then cut your
own path parallel to them through the same forest.